SF’s most expensive single-family finally sold?

We know, you might think, what, 2845 Broadway in the news again? Yes, this home, famous for being San Francisco’s most expensive home for sale and for being basically unfinished inside is making headlines this week—for finally selling after almost a decade.

Rumor has it, claims Trulia, tech super-star David Sacks bought the 17,000 square foot mansion, which also features a 6,000 square foot guest house, this week.

The property’s history is interesting. Peter Sperling, best known for being part of the family responsible for launching the obscenely successful Phoenix University, purchased it in 2002 for $32 million. He found it wanting, apparently, and set about remodeling it, stripping down the interior to the studs. For reasons unknown, the remodel never finished. It barely started, if the pictures are anything to go by. Yet Sperling felt he could re-list the home for $65,000,000, a price that was the highest ever on record in this city for a single-family home.

No buyer emerged for years. And years. But in October, CurbedSF noted the that 2845 Broadway had been taken off market, rumored to be in contract. And now, Trulia tells us, David Sacks is officially the new owner.

Sacks, with his illustrious Silicon Valley career as founder of Geni.com, COO of PayPal, and founder of Yammer—which he recently sold to Microsoft for $1.2 billion– could probably have afforded the original list price; but like the business man he is, he didn’t pay it. Trulia records show the closing price at close to a 50% reduction. Still, $34.5 million is San Francisco’s highest sale price for a single-family home. And don’t forget, the barren interior is far from move-in ready. Completing the long-abandoned renovation could cost upwards of an additional $10 million.

What do you say, readers? Worth the money for an Italian limestone palace on Billionaire Row? And hey, for fun, what would you do with such a huge, blank canvas to work with, and virtually no budget limit to do the work?

Anna Marie Erwert writes from both the renter and new buyer perspective, having (finally) achieved both statuses. She focuses on national real estate trends, specializing in the San Francisco Bay Area and Pacific Northwest. Follow Anna on Twitter: @AnnaMarieErwert